DENVER -- Upon his debut in 2022, it was difficult to imagine Corbin Carroll becoming any kind of significant power threat for the Diamondbacks. Sure, power has always been an aspect of his game, but not nearly as much as the game-changing speed and athleticism that defined his ’23 National League Rookie of the Year campaign.
But as the league has adapted to better handle Carroll, so has he. As a result, he has become one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.
One swing in the Diamondbacks’ 6-5 loss to the Rockies on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field tells you all you need to know about his transformation.
Facing Rockies left-hander Luis Peralta in his third at-bat, Carroll jumped all over a middle-middle fastball and deposited it into the second deck in right-center field, a Statcast-projected 474 feet, sparking a four-run sixth inning for Arizona.
It was the longest home run of Carroll’s career -- surpassing his previous career high by 28 feet -- and the third-longest in the Majors this season, behind only Mike Trout (484 feet on April 19) and Byron Buxton (479 feet on June 11).
“I’m always working,” Carroll said. “I just want to get better each day, just be as complete of a hitter as I can be.”
It was perhaps the only encouragement for the D-backs, who after winning eight of 11 coming into the four-game set against Colorado, dropped the series.
Arizona had an opportunity to make up some ground in the NL Wild Card race, especially with two of the teams ahead of them -- Cincinnati and St. Louis -- getting swept in their respective series. Instead, the D-backs finished the road trip six games behind the Mets, who occupy the third and final Wild Card spot.
“We’re frustrated, you can imagine,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “Nobody is happy with it -- I’m not, the players aren’t, the coaches aren’t. We got to figure it out, that’s the bottom line. As fast as you get into things you can get out of it.
“My mindset is we’re going to learn from this, we’re going to figure out a lot of things about ourselves. The one thing I know is this team fights and they play hard every single day.”
The series loss doesn’t diminish how much Carroll has evolved at the plate.
This time last year, Carroll was starting to tap into more power after making adjustments with his swing and approach. He caught fire and belted 19 home runs over his final 66 games after hitting just three homers with a .613 OPS over his first 92.
Carroll proved that the late surge wasn’t a fluke at the start of this season. He was tied with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the Major League lead with 14 home runs on May 13. Flash forward to this month, and Carroll has already surpassed his career high in long balls, while his 63 extra-base hits are tied for fourth in the Majors.
Those results are validated by an increased hard-hit rate (50%) and fly-ball rate (33.9%), proving that Carroll is not only hitting the ball with authority, but lifting it in the air more frequently. He’s also pulling the ball more and utilizing the whole field less than he has previously.
While the trade-off has been more swing-and-miss and strikeouts, the change in approach has been worthwhile. Even if it has meant more trotting around the bases and less wreaking havoc with his speed on them, that hasn’t completely turned Carroll away from his other strength, whether it’s stealing or taking the extra base.
“Over the last two years I’ve had such good hitters behind me where I try to pick my spots and let those guys hit, because they’re really good hitters,” Carroll said. “Just trying to do what’s called for. If we need to steal a bag, I’ve got confidence that I can do it.”
The Diamondbacks’ season has had its share of disappointment. Arizona hopes it can take advantage of whatever opportunities remain to make a push for the postseason before regrouping ahead of next year.
But Carroll’s evolution has been a massive positive for the D-backs and their lineup. The power is real, and it’s here to stay.
“Corbin is an exceptional baseball player,” Lovullo said. “He’s never sitting still. He’s always learning and growing day by day. He is not just in it to be average. He wants to practice how to be well above average and be elite at this game. It was a left-on-left fastball -- he’s challenged himself to be better against lefties. He clobbered that ball.
“It’s the swing changes, it’s the awareness, it’s his ability to make adjustments and understand who he is every day that makes him so impressive.”